Think ‘Chernobyl’ and pictures of the nuclear meltdown from hell spring to mind. In the quarter century since, surprising things have been happening in the exclusion zone around the Ukraine’s notorious nuclear power plant. Plants and animals have returned and in some areas are thriving. But the region screams many vexing questions, none the least of which is the reason for the gradual disappearance of Przewalski’s horses that were released into the area in the late 1990s. And you have to question why an endangered species was released into such a hazardous area in the first place. On April 26, 1986, a systems test at Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near the city of Prypiat and close to the border with Belarus went catastrophically wrong. Following a sudden power surge, an emergency shutdown failed and a second more extreme power surge led to a reactor vessel rupture, then a series of explosions. The 1000 tonne sealing cap blew off the reactor and its graphite moderator was exposed to the air, causing it to ignite. The fire raged for nine days spewing huge quantities of radiation into the atmosphere that spread 150,000 square kilometres over the Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. The wind carried radiation fallout as far away as Scandinavia. Later, a concrete sarcophagus was built over the damaged reactor to cover the contaminated remains. But construction was poor; the roof leaks and rain drains through the floor to spread contaminated water into the surrounding soil.The exclusion zone was established very soon after the disaster and initially extended 30 kilometres around the plant. But its border was adjusted to accommodate areas of high concentration. The zone’s area is unevenly polluted and those regions most intensively affected were initially created from the fallout from wind and rain, and then because they were the sites for numerous burials of materials and equipment used in the cleanup. More....

A herd of Critically Endangered wild Przewalski's horses in the Chernobyl exclusion zone is under threat from poachers, say scientists. Researchers in Ukraine say that the population may be in decline because poachers have been removing the animals faster than they are breeding. Thirty-one horses were taken from a Przewalski's horse reserve and from a local zoo. They were released into the zone in 1998 and 1999. Scientists from the state-run SSSIE Ecocentre in Chernobyl say the horses were introduced to "enrich the biodiversity" of the exclusion zone surrounding Chernobyl nuclear power station's damaged nuclear reactor. The zone was evacuated in 1986 after reactor number four exploded. Professor Tim Mousseau, a biologist from the University of South Carolina who visits the zone to work at least twice a year, says that the herd he has spotted has been "getting smaller" in recent years. "Many people in this part of Ukraine are very poor," he told BBC Nature on a recent trip to the exclusion zone. "So access to a readily available supply of horsemeat is tempting for people." More....

On September 30, 2009, four men were arrested for catching fish from the Pripyat River in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

The men, between 28 and 40 years old, had caught 217 fish in their nets worth more than 2,000 UAH (approximately $235 US). The men claimed this was the first time they were in the Exclusion Zone and were fishing only for their own consumption.

Authorities are now checking if any contaminated fish from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone are being sold in markets within the Kyiv region.

The offenders have been banned from future entry into the Zone. Authorities have opened a criminal case against them, under Article 249 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (Illegal fishing). All boats, motors and nets were confiscated.

Geez, 217 fish between four people and it was caught for themselves? Unlikely, unless they planned to cure and smoke it.

Obviously, wood and scrap metal are not the only things criminals try to remove from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This makes me wonder if Kyiv's food supply is really safe.

We venture out at dawn from a dilapidated shack nestled in a forest to see the animals, although rising early is not always necessary.

Still inhospitable to humans, the Chernobyl "exclusion zone" -- a contaminated 30-km radius around the site of the nuclear reactor explosion of April 26, 1986 -- is now a nature reserve and teems with wolves, moose, bison, wild boars and bears. Boars, which generally confine their sorties to dusk, plunder what remains of gardens in the daytime, strolling down empty village streets, wandering into farms and settlements in search of food. Moose also venture out -- like the cow and her two young which appear on the roadside to munch on low-hanging branches. "Moose are very curious creatures," says Grigory Sys, one of the naturalists who oversee the animals in the still-radioactive forest. "They'll want to have a good look at us for a couple of minutes before heading off into the forest." Since I met him about four years ago I've accompanied Sys a half-dozen times round the 2,162 square km (865-sq. mile) zone, emptied of people by the fire and explosion at the plant just over the border in Ukraine.

Belarus, downwind from the blast, was the country worst affected by the world's worst civil nuclear accident. A quarter of its territory was contaminated and villages deserted on both sides of the border between what were then Soviet republics. More....

Ukrainian law enforcement officers detained two officials of the General Directorate of Ukraine’s Secretariat of the Ombudsman today for killing an elk calf in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, the two officials killed the calf and placed it in the trunk of a car. The accused admitted entering the Exclusion Zone through a hole in the fence. Police detained them after they tried to merge to a road leading away from the Chernobyl Zone.

Investigation materials will be handed over to the prosecutor for criminal charges of poaching and illegal entry into the Exclusion Zone. It is unclear what the officials intended to do with the meat, which is being sent for examination to determine the presence of radionuclides.

The review about population of Przewalski horses is prepared by scientists-biologists (Zharkikh T.L. and Yasynetska N.I.). These scientists directly engaged in researches of these animals in the conditions of a Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and the Zone of Unconditional (obligatory) Resettlements.

In 1998, the Biosphere Reserve Askania Nova launched a Programme on establishing a free-roaming population of the Przewalski horse in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl power plant for the purpose of restoring and enrichment of biodiversity of its ecosystems.

In 1998 and 1999 the Reserve together with the State Forest Enterprise Chernobylles transported 31 Przewalski horses including 10 males and 18 females from Askania Nova and 3 males from a local zoo of the Lozovski stud to the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Eight horses including 2 ones from the local zoo died during transportation or soon after that; others formed 2 harem groups and one bachelor group. The Przewalski horses were kept in acclimatization enclosures from few weeks to 8 months; then they were released into the wild. The only survived male from the local zoo refused to leave the acclimatization enclosures and died there 18 months later. In 2004, unknown to the Reserve Askania Nova, other thirteen PHs were transported from some city zoos into Chernobyl exclusion zone and were released into the wild without acclimatization. The Przewalski horses failed in adaptation to the nature environments and soon died without posterities.Przewalski horses began breeding in 1998. Totally, 15 mares and 2 stallions (61% of the horses transported from Askania Nova) gave offspring and became founders of the population. The first foals of the 2nd generation were born in 2004. More....